Although the COVID-19 pandemic replaced classroom lectures with early-morning Zoom calls, one part of Benet pride remained the same during e-Learning: voting for Student Government president and vice president. The catchphrase-filled posters and persuasive speeches went digital this year. The candidates compiled their campaigns on a Google Slides presentation, which, along with their campaign speech videos, were sent out to the whole student body. From there, students could decide which candidate to support and vote for. The ballots were emailed via a Google Form. Even through the transition from school inside the halls of Benet to e-Learning within the walls of our own homes, the candidates made this election one to remember. Congratulations to the candidates of this year’s SG election, whose hard work did not go unnoticed: Kylie Flynn/Joe Mekhail, Jake Dourdourekas/Mia Manuel, Meredith Green/Emmett Tully, and Mia Rogalski/Braden Carrier.
After two rounds of voting, the Benet Academy SG president and vice president for next year are Jake Dourdourekas and Mia Manuel. When asked about their plans for this year, new President Jake Dourdourekas replied, “Mia and I are planning on doing a lot of fun things this year to make up for lost time.” Dourdourekas and Manuel have come up with three simple tasks in their plans as president and vice-president.
First, they hope to raise student attendance at school dances this year through more student involvement in the planning process. Dourdourekas and Manuel will accomplish this by allowing students to compile the dance playlist and by having a good DJ because, in the words of Dourdourekas, “A good DJ means the dance will be amazing.”
Second, the president and vice president want to give back to the community around the Academy through food and clothing drives. With incentives such as slop days for the class with the most donations, student participation in acts of service is another priority for the president and VP.
Finally, Dourdourekas and Manuel want to reach the $100,000 mark for this year’s Christmas Drive. They are very excited and confident in the student body’s ability to reach this mark, and they hope that new ideas like selling food during passing periods and more teacher-based sales in the early days of the Drive will be the next step in reaching that goal.
After long weeks away from the Benet campus, students will be eager to make the 2020-2021 school year the best one yet, and the SG president and vice president are no exception!